Chivalry 2.0http://www.uh1pilot.com
Raising Boys in a post Christian worldFri, 28 Apr 2017 19:42:51 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2How the Veteran’s Choice program really works or for once NPR actually got a story right.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/6CMKk6kaSlI/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/va-choice-program/#respondFri, 28 Apr 2017 19:36:21 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=372 How the Veteran’s Choice program really works or for once NPR actually got a story right. Like most of Washington speak the title of a program usually is inversely descriptive of the results. Veterans still have no choice. Recently I needed to have a consult with an ENT specialist. The “local” VA facility with more »

How the Veteran’s Choice program really works or for once NPR actually got a story right. Like most of Washington speak the title of a program usually is inversely descriptive of the results. Veterans still have no choice.

Recently I needed to have a consult with an ENT specialist. The “local” VA facility with an ENT was a 5 hour round trip from where I live. Because I also live within 40 miles of a clinic, even if they don’t provide the needed service, I am ineligible for the Veteran’s Choice Program, so 5 hours are routinely spent getting care.

In this case however the “local” VA facility lost their ENT (I don’t know why but after seeing that person some time ago, well, trust me it wasn’t a great loss). That triggered a condition where I could use the Veteran’s choice program. You see the next closest VA facility with an ENT is a 7 hour round trip and somewhere in the bowels of the VA there is a department that determines arbitrarily that if you travel some amount of distance over a 5 hour round trip you can get into the club, but just for this one instance mind you.

You might think “Great! Now I can see a local doctor of my choice!” and you would be wrong. First you have to find a doctor who will take the program on and I mean take it on. You see it isn’t enough that they are board certified and have the appropriate licenses, nope, they must also jump through hoops to be “qualified” by the VA. What do they get in return for all the paperwork and reproving their abilities to the VA? Very few patients to try and get a return on that time invested, slow pay, and far below market value payment for services. Right there our choice is limited to the one or maybe two providers brave enough to attempt the gauntlet of approval and ensuing bureaucratic punishment for trying to do a good turn.

Two weeks after my initial exam I was told of my eligibility to use the program and that they, the program administrators, would be calling me with appointment information. After another two weeks I got a call from the program administrators.

That call informed me that they didn’t have a doctor for the program in my area. This started a search for one that would take me on as a patient. A week and a half later one was identified, it was in the next city 25 miles away. The appointment scheduled for me was two and a half weeks out and happened to conflict with another VA appointment. So here I sit waiting for a change to an appointment that was created just over 8 weeks from the time it was determined I needed to see an ENT specialist. I am still not sure when that will ever happen.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/va-choice-program/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/va-choice-program/The Tax Game. Tired of Playing it yet?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/OjhrU0WN5r0/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/the-tax-game-tired-of-playing-it-yet/#commentsThu, 10 Mar 2016 05:47:16 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=365Taxes, Taxes, Who’s paying for the Taxes! Statists would like you to believe that you can get even with evil corporations by increasing their taxes, But who actually pays them? Here is an undeniable truth you need to understand, no matter how much you tax corporations YOU are the one paying the bill and it more »

Statists would like you to believe that you can get even with evil corporations by increasing their taxes, But who actually pays them?
Here is an undeniable truth you need to understand, no matter how much you tax corporations YOU are the one paying the bill and it is a shell game the statist hope you never figure out.

So let’s look at the three ways you are paying them.

1. Increased prices, yup those evil corporations and small business jack up the price to cover the cost of taxes. Voting to increase taxes on companies is a vote to increase YOUR taxes.

2. Shareholders won’t make much on a return. What do you care, those fat-cat stock holders shouldn’t be making money off of us poor citizens. Oh Wait, Yeah sorry your retirement account is made up of mutual funds that buy stocks in those evil companies and if the stock holders don’t make much money…. Well so much for your retirement.

3. Employees are the number one cost to any business and if the money has to go to the tax man employers can’t keep paying people they don’t have the money for, people get fired.
So which shell do you want to pay their “fair” share of the taxes from, … because you ARE paying it.

How about none of the above!

Stop playing the statists game who’s goal is to keep you poor by making you pay taxes you didn’t even know existed. Demand that government stop stealing your money and start cutting their spending, it is time they learned to live on less, not us.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/the-tax-game-tired-of-playing-it-yet/feed/1http://www.uh1pilot.com/the-tax-game-tired-of-playing-it-yet/Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Rylehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/nYzmRK0GM_c/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/thoughts-for-young-men-by-j-c-ryle/#respondSat, 10 Jan 2015 23:16:02 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=349 Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle is another of those must have books when raising boys. It is relatively short but do not let that fool you. He says in one sentence what modern authors say in paragraphs. His style is readable, plain and straight to the point. I recommend getting the more »

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/thoughts-for-young-men-by-j-c-ryle/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/thoughts-for-young-men-by-j-c-ryle/Drums Along the Mohawkhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/cVqeBvFLTOo/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/drums-along-mohawk/#respondSun, 05 Oct 2014 04:24:08 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=338 Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert star in this John Ford classic Drums Along the Mohawk. This is a great movie and fairly accurate to the history of the fight in the Mohawk Valley This is a great movie and fairly accurate to the history of the fight in the Mohawk Valley in NY. The more »

Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert star in this John Ford classic Drums Along the Mohawk. This is a great movie and fairly accurate to the history of the fight in the Mohawk Valley

This is a great movie and fairly accurate to the history of the fight in the Mohawk Valley in NY.

The biggest historical error in the drama was the death of General Herkimer, and then only in the manner of timing. The general died 10 days after his wound while the movie has him dying a few hours, the circumstances

right down to the inexperienced surgeon is spot on.

It is a drama so many of the people and parts and fictitious, a fun project is to look through history to try and tell which ones are which.

There is one spot you should be aware of in the movie. When Henry Fonda arrives at his cabin in the wilderness with his new wife, he leaves her inside for a moment so he can get wood to build a fire.

When a local Indian walks into the cabin unannounced, Fords wife screams uncontrollably. Ford who comes running to see what happened finds her in hysterics and resorts to slapping her to bring back around.

He is immediately apologetic and promises never to do that again. It is a good moment to talk about the situation with your sons and ask them how they would have handled it differently.

The Indian, nonplussed, returns from outside with a switch for Fords future use, showing a cultural difference between a savage upbringing and one based on Christian Judeo ethics.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/drums-along-mohawk/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/drums-along-mohawk/June 7th 1984, Cessna O-2 Crash, Ft. Stewart GA and the Convention of Stateshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/tuKiuxkxZ90/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/june-7th-1984-cessna-o-2-crash-ft-stewart-ga-and-the-convention-of-states/#commentsFri, 03 Oct 2014 07:30:01 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=316 June 7th 1984, Cessna O-2 Crash, Ft. Stewart GA and the Convention of states. While on Medevac duty that day at Wright Army Field, located at Ft. Stewart GA., my crew and I were called to respond to a downed aircraft incident. It was just after lunch, we pilots and 1st up crew were lounging around more »

While on Medevac duty that day at Wright Army Field, located at Ft. Stewart GA., my crew and I were called to respond to a downed aircraft incident.

It was just after lunch, we pilots and 1st up crew were lounging around the small day room waiting for the inevitable heat casualty call to come through. There was a joint training task force with elements from the 24 Infantry Division and the 507th Tactical Air Control Wing from Shaw Air Force Base S.C. going on all week and it was getting old. In the afternoon two or three times a day we would “bounce” go out to where the affected trooper lay and bring them to Winn Army Hospital with varying degrees of heat sicknesses.

There was a joint training task force with elements from the 24 Infantry Division and the 507th Tactical Air Control Wing from Shaw Air Force Base S.C. going on all week and it was getting old. In the afternoon two or three times a day we would “bounce”, and go out to where the affected trooper lay, and bring them back to Winn Army Hospital with varying degrees of heat sicknesses.

Right at about 14:00 the air siren went off on the control tower of Wright Field, this siren signified an aircraft accident somewhere on FT. Stewart .

We didn’t hesitate a single second and raced to our waiting Medevac UH-1V. Completely out of breath with lungs burning trying to bring air back in through a windpipe that would only go so big we scrambled aboard the primed and waiting aircraft. As we pulled the start trigger the blades started to spin as the turbine throated to life.

Once at flight idle our crew Chief and Medic who were standing by as fire guards outside the aircraft climbed in. I and my fellow pilot raced through the checklist so fast that it came close to downright mind reading.

I pulled up on the collective after I brought the engine RPM to full throttle, and came to a three foot hover as my cohort pilot started the radio clearances from the tower and Area control for the cantonment of Ft. Stewart. Cleared for departure from our current location, I moved the cyclic forward and started our takeoff run. In the meantime, I could hear the particulars coming from the control room of Medevac operations over our FM radio. It was an Air Force O-2 that went inverted and crashed into a heavily wooded area about 3 miles shy of Remagen training DZ (Drop Zone) to the west.

We flew straight to the area which wasn’t hard for us to tell, there were a number of other military aircraft up flying that day, and they circled around where we presumed the downed Air force O-2 was. As we got closer we could tell that was exactly what was going on. We flew over the crash site and circled looking for a clear landing area and we couldn’t find one. There were a number of helicopters that had already landed close to the site and there wasn’t any room for us. I was mad, I know they wanted to help but we couldn’t get in there, what was worse a number of them had shut down and the pilots were out of them and away from their radios. We couldn’t even call them to say “hey clear out of there!”

We made the decision to land as close to the sight as we possibly could, which was almost 2 Klicks (Kilometers) out from the crash site.

Once we got on the ground I gave the controls to my fellow pilot and he held it at flight idle as I and my crew chief grabbed our on board extractor box. This box was 250 LBS. full of metal cutting equipment and a hand pump jaws of life. My medic grabbed his kit, and off we ran at a full dead heat as fast as we could, we didn’t know if they were dead or alive all we knew was that we just had to get there.

As we were running me in the lead my crew chief on the other end of the box followed by our medic, my crew chief stumbled for a second. We kept running as fast as humanly possible but that jerk traveled through the box and caused me to lurch forward. I fell one hand holding the box the other out in front to break my fall and my left knee slamming on top of a rather large exposed root. It was like a three part pile hammer , my weight, the metal box, and the weight of the crew chief and all that momentum stopped by my knee on that root.

Needless to say the pain went from excruciating to numb in just a few seconds. It didn’t matter we recovered and ran at a full tilt the rest of the way. When we got to the site we ran up to the plane. There was very little ground run, almost none in fact. It looked like where the nose augured in, it stopped and then fell on its back. I looked up and was stunned to see half a dozen men sitting and standing just looking, looking at what was left. My mind for a second couldn’t comprehend why nobody moved, it was all very surreal.

I looked from their faces as we dropped the box and I saw on the ground the left arm of one of the pilots peeking out from under the wreckage. On the left sleeve of our flight suits is a small pocket and pen holder. His pocket zipper was open, and spilling out from it was his dog tag, a small bit of chain, and his wedding ring.

I could see out of my peripheral the heads shaking “no”, back and forth very slowly almost as if they were apologizing to these two occupants for not being able to do anything to save them. The two men were dead, we had to check, and reaching our hands through the wreckage looking for a pulse confirmed that the end event was quick, as one pilot lost his head and the other had his face sheered off by the upper control panel. Their last recorded words were “May-ugh! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We are going down Come on, Let GO! and then it was over.

As I climbed back out from under the crash one of the pilots who had been shaking his head simply said, “I watched it go down” One minute it was ok then it pitched awkward and rolled onto its back, I saw the tail come off and down it went”.

We were followed to the site pretty quickly by an aviation safety officer, and as we were going to pull the bodies out and cover them he yelled over to us “Don’t”. I stopped and looked to see who would yell that at us when I noticed his senior rank. He followed it up by a rather soft ” the accident investigation team will need to see this just the way it is”.

My biggest regret that day was in not disobeying him, it took the board many hours to get there, all the while that hot Georgia sun was not helping matters. If I had known they would take until almost 17:00 that day I think I would have.

You may have many reasons to become involved in the Convention of States project, I have many as well and two of them are named 1st lt. Craig Martelle and 1st lt. Kurt Schwindt. Those two men gave their lives to the defense of this country and to this day I wear a knee brace on that left knee ( it took me 30 years with the VA to get it, but that is a different story). Every day we allow our Constitution to be subverted, and every day we do not take action to call for a convention of States, we dishonor those men and others like them who gave their last full measure to protect our country, our liberty, and our freedom.

We in the military swore an oath to protect our Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic.

We have a legal, peaceful means to accomplish this goal, shame on us if we don’t get it done.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/june-7th-1984-cessna-o-2-crash-ft-stewart-ga-and-the-convention-of-states/feed/8http://www.uh1pilot.com/june-7th-1984-cessna-o-2-crash-ft-stewart-ga-and-the-convention-of-states/Impeachable offenses? Glad you asked.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/wgs9v-7JEqA/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/impeachable-offenses-glad-you-asked/#respondTue, 22 Jul 2014 20:21:57 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=300 By Scott P. Williams Impeachable offenses? Glad you asked. Should Barack Obama be impeached? I will remind you that whether or not the senate will create the trial is Immaterial to the House of Representatives responsibility to move forward with impeachment of the President. Let’s start with the biggie, Treason: • Leaving more »

Impeachable offenses? Glad you asked. Should Barack Obama be impeached? I will remind you that whether or not the senate will create the trial is Immaterial to the House of Representatives responsibility to move forward with impeachment of the President.

Let’s start with the biggie, Treason:

• Leaving an Ambassador and 3 Americans to die in an 8 hour gun fight when help was 35 min away is aiding and abetting the enemy.

• Releasing 5 Terrorist leaders who have either personally murdered American’s or planned and directed the execution of the plan, is aiding and abetting the enemy.

High Crimes and misdemeanors:

• Releasing prisoners from GITMO in defiance of legitimate law passed by congress and signed into being by President Obama is violating his oath of office. In addition it is usurping constitutional powers reserved for congress alone. A high crime against the Constitution. (Section 1 Article 8 in case you were wondering)

• Re-writing the healthcare law with the flick of his pen. A high crime against the Constitution.

• Fast and Furious, A high crime against the Constitution.

• Using the IRS against his political enemies. A high crime against the Constitution.

How about some Misdemeanors?:

• Taking outlandish vacations to the tune of 44 million dollars of tax payer money. (This does not count his vacations disguised as “official” trips. Those come to over 100 million more.)

• Using the EPA, the NSA, the DHS, the EPA, (did I just use EPA twice? Yes I did he, really like that one) as a blunt instrument against the citizens of this county.

• Violating immigration law

This is a good list to start from. Except I didn’t add in the VA scandal, only because I can’t make up my mind whether or not this was aiding and abetting the enemy, a high crime, or a misdemeanor. Most likely it fits in all three at oh so many levels.

FOOTNOTE:

Well OK on second thought:

Let me give you some perspective ….I have dealt with the VA since 1987, it was absolutely horrible then.

I knew some dog kennels that were run better than the VA during that time.

My last duty assignment was as a Medevac pilot and before life star existed we would fly into rural locations and perform that duty as a way to “train” in the art of air rescue, air ambulance response.

I had the opportunity to walk into the clinics of some of the most backwater towns in Ga., Fl., SC, NC, Al, and AR.there was.

I saw unsanitary condition reminiscent of the state of medicine that I could only imagine existed in the prior century. They VA made them look like the Mayo clinic in comparison.

I proclaimed often that I wouldn’t bring a wheelbarrow for those neanderthals to fix, let alone a person. Sadly as I have grown older my injuries require more attention and forced me back into the system. …Over the years however the VA improved, slowly, very slowly.. right up to about 2009. It was a night and day difference between when I started using the VA and that time…..

What difference can leadership make?

From 2009 till now the VA has gone to hell on a rocket sled. This government is rotten from the head down. Sure the VA problem wasn’t created by this administration, but this administration has done its dead level best to insure it collapses, further showing the absolute disdain for all things military, all the while spending 3 times the VA’s annual budget on Illegal aliens..I think now I can at least rule out a misdemeanor….

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/impeachable-offenses-glad-you-asked/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/impeachable-offenses-glad-you-asked/Barack Obama: our Neville Chamberlain?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/PF3bd_otDoQ/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/barack-obama-our-neville-chamberlain/#respondTue, 17 Jun 2014 19:03:26 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=282Barack Obama: our Neville Chamberlain? Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a member of the British conservative party but that is a bit of a misnomer. It merged with the Unionist Party in 1912 and although it claims right of center politically it really all depends on who is at the controls. Education wise Neville graduated with a degree in more »

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a member of the British conservative party but that is a bit of a misnomer.

It merged with the Unionist Party in 1912 and although it claims right of center politically it really all depends on who is at the controls.

Education wise Neville graduated with a degree in science and metallurgy and was apprenticed out to an accounting firm, he had been a solid B+ performer .

Barack Obama we are pretty sure graduated, we think surely he did, didn’t he? I mean doesn’t he have a degree in poly-sci and law? That’s what we have been told. We only really have his word for it, as he has never released his college transcripts.

Later Neville did work in small business although his initial foray failed, or rather his father’s foray. It is unclear whether he and his brother were partners or just employees. The business was growing sisal hemp in the Bahamas. It turned out to be an unsuitable environment and the business was shut down at a heavy loss in 1896.

Barack Obama, smoked hemp.

Neville had better luck back in England. He served as chairman of several manufacturing firms in Birmingham, including Elliots, a metal goods manufacturer, and Hoskins, a cabin berth manufacturer. He had a reputation for being a hands-on manager, he took a strong interest in the day-to-day running of affairs.

Barack Obama played golf.

In 1915 Neville had become Lord Mayor of Birmingham and in his first two months won approval to increase the electrical supply to his city.

Barack Obama, rejects the Keystone XL pipe Line.

Neville even organized the use of coal as part of the war effort.

Barack Obama has a war effort on the use of coal.

Neville had prevented a strike by council workers.

Barack Obama never meet a strike he didn’t like.

Neville appeased a tyrant in the hopes of preventing a war.

Barack Obama appeased terrorists in the middle of one.

Neville Chamberlain was an accomplished individual throughout his life, with many positive accomplishments to the community in business and government with one exception.

Barack Obama has accomplished nothing not even having the one exception. Oh he may have been elected president but don’t confuse winning an Idol contest with actually doing something.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/barack-obama-our-neville-chamberlain/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/barack-obama-our-neville-chamberlain/Col. Allen West: Our Winston Churchill….. Barack Obama: our Neville Chamberlain?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/RQyTrkjidQo/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/276/#respondTue, 17 Jun 2014 14:20:01 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=276An article from Allen West, I usually will link to a particular news story but this time I felt compelled to copy it in its entirety. So many times we see and pass by an important story that we should have read, well I just didn’t want that to be the case on this one. more »

]]>An article from Allen West, I usually will link to a particular news story but this time I felt compelled to copy it in its entirety. So many times we see and pass by an important story that we should have read, well I just didn’t want that to be the case on this one. Col. West speaks truth boldly. Have we lost the ability to hear it? In this day and age of American Idol Elections one has to wonder. Thank you Col. West for being bold. Like Winston Churchill, West is a lone unrelenting voice against this insanity. We all seem to have forgotten that the US Constitution is not a suicide pact. But if Allen West is our Winston Churchill is Barack Obama our Chamberlain? See my next post for the answer….

A week ago Barack Hussein Obama stated that the “world is less violent” during a Tumblr interview session – as his acolytes lapped it up. Is he really that clueless?

Islamic terrorist group al-Shabab proves it so. According to Yahoo News, Dozens of extremists (i.e. Islamic terrorists) attacked a Kenyan coastal town for hours, killing those who couldn’t answer questions about Islam and those who didn’t know the Somali language, officials and witnesses said Monday.

At least 48 people were killed and two hotels were set on fire. The assault in Mpeketoni began Sunday night as residents watched World Cup matches on TV and lasted until early Monday, with little resistance put up by Kenya’s security forces. Cars and buildings still smoldered at daybreak.

Just as a reminder, this violence is brought to you by the same jihadists who attacked Nairobi’s Westgate Mall last year — 67 people were killed last September when four al-Shabab gunmen attacked the upscale mall in the Kenyan capital.

And just like those barbaric savages then, the Mpeketoni attackers gave life-or-death religious tests, a witness said, killing those who were not Muslim.

“They came to our house at around 8 p.m. and asked us in Swahili whether we were Muslims. My husband told them we were Christians and they shot him in the head and chest,” said Anne Gathigi. Another resident, John Waweru, said his two brothers were killed because the attackers did not like that the brothers did not speak Somali.

At the Breeze View Hotel, the gunmen pulled the men aside and ordered the women to watch as they killed them, saying it was what Kenyan troops are doing to Somali men inside Somalia, a police commander said.

The Interior Ministry said that at about 8 p.m. Sunday, two minivans entered the town. Militants disembarked and began shooting. Kenya’s National Disaster Operations Center said military surveillance planes were launched shortly afterward.

It’s come to a certain point where I don’t blame these animals anymore. I blame us. They sense weakness and only respect strength, power, and might.

You know what I’m sick of? I am sick of the apologists, weaklings, and coexist bumper sticker crowd who sit back and allow this to happen.

I am sick of people telling us to not offend Muslims and that these are just the actions of those who are perverting Islam. I’m sick of Barack Hussein Obama supporting Islamists. I’m sick of us allowing this theocratic-political totalitarian ideology to infiltrate Western Civilization and turn our laws against us as they masquerade as a religion. I’m sick of tolerance becoming a one-way street leading to our cultural suicide.

I’m sick of being labeled as an “Islamophobe” for speaking the truth. I am sick of hearing we are not at war with Islam, yet their actions tell me that it has been and continues to be at war with us — Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb.

I am sick of an American pastor, Saeed Abedini being held in Iran for being a Christian. I am sick of a Sudanese Christian woman, Meriam Ibrahim, who is married to a naturalized American citizen and mother of two American children being held in a Sudanese prison because of her faith — sentenced to 100 lashes and death. I’m sick of hashtag diplomacy and empty rhetoric as a response to Islamic terrorists kidnapping Christian Nigerian girls and burning boys to death.

I’m sick of reading about Christians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Copts, being slaughtered by the so called “religion of peace” — what utter bovine excrement.

I’m sick of the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliated groups operating freely in America and U.S. political officials allowing if not encouraging it. I’m sick of CAIR being able to wield political influence in our country and censor women like Ayaan Hirsi Ali or Brigitte Gabriel who have suffered under the intolerant hands of Islamism — and hearing nothing from liberal progressives who tout a “War on Women.”

I’m sick of people worrying about jihadists taken off the battlefield and held at a freakin’ five-star facility like GITMO with top notch medical treatment and cable TV while Americans captured by the enemy are brutally tortured, and ritually beheaded. I’m sick of cowards who release the enemy’s leadership and try to convince the American people they are not a threat.

I’m sick of these bastards believing they can taunt and threaten our nation while we sit back and fools like John Kerry talk about climate change being a global threat — and want to ask Iran for assistance in Iraq. Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism and has the blood of American troops on its hands.

Yep, I’ve had it and will be relentless in defeating Islamic totalitarianism. Sir Winston Churchill tried to warn England of the threat of Naziism — of course the country initially sided with Chamberlain. And so history is repeating itself. Warning to liberal progressive socialists: stand clear lest you find yourself declared an ally with these barbarians. I am looking for brave Americans to enjoin this battle. This is not about killing them all, just killing the ones who need killing — since that is all they understand.

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/276/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/276/“Cheese Grommet”, “Cheese” and Those dastardly Cheese Artisanshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/k-RQS-zeWxI/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/cheese-grommet-cheese-those-dastardly-cheese-artisans/#respondMon, 09 Jun 2014 16:46:29 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=254Blogs come, and blogs go, so I make a habit of copying from a site and then sharing the link. In this day and age of new media stories can be pulled down and scrubbed as if they never existed. So not wanting the story of an over reaching federal government to disappear I more »

Blogs come, and blogs go, so I make a habit of copying from a site and then sharing the link. In this day and age of new media stories can be pulled down and scrubbed as if they never existed.

So not wanting the story of an over reaching federal government to disappear I captured this latest intrusion to artisan cheese makers by Crony-Capitalist.

We had a word for this in 1776 it was called Mercantilism. We fought a revolution over it and the right to good governance. Thankfully our founders gave us the means to stop this kind of nonsense. It is contained in article V of the US Constitution. It is a simple solution that allows for the peaceful redress of massive federal over-reach and cronyism.

Here are the facts: we can amend the Constitution in one of two ways, either congress can offer up an amendment or the states can. Once offered up, 3/4ths of the states must ratify any proposed amendment, period.

We the states can call for a Convention of states, as termed by the 1st such call from Virginia, you can see my column for that under history and politics HERE.

The call under the Convention of states project (www.conventionofstates.com) is for the purpose to propose amendments that limit the power,scope, and jurisdiction of the federal government and to limit the terms of office for its officials.

What does that mean?

Read Mark Levin’s book the liberty amendments and see a world of possibilities!

Get it in hard cover so you can underline and dog ear it to your hearts content.

And now for the article:

Game Changer: FDA Rules No Wooden Boards in Cheese Aging

A sense of disbelief and distress is quickly rippling through the U.S. artisan cheese community, as the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week announced it will not permit American cheesemakers to age cheese on wooden boards.

Recently, the FDA inspected several New York state cheesemakers and cited them for using wooden surfaces to age their cheeses. The New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets’ Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services, which (like most every state in the U.S., including Wisconsin), has allowed this practice, reached out to FDA for clarification on the issue. A response was provided by Monica Metz, Branch Chief of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition’s (CFSAN) Dairy and Egg Branch.

In the response, Metz stated that the use of wood for cheese ripening or aging is considered an unsanitary practice by FDA, and a violation of FDA’s current Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations. Here’s an excerpt:

“Microbial pathogens can be controlled if food facilities engage in good manufacturing practice. Proper cleaning and sanitation of equipment and facilities are absolutely necessary to ensure that pathogens do not find niches to reside and proliferate. Adequate cleaning and sanitation procedures are particularly important in facilities where persistent strains of pathogenic microorganisms like Listeria monocytogenes could be found. The use of wooden shelves, rough or otherwise, for cheese ripening does not conform to cGMP requirements, which require that “all plant equipment and utensils shall be so designed and of such material and workmanship as to be adequately cleanable, and shall be properly maintained.” 21 CFR 110.40(a). Wooden shelves or boards cannot be adequately cleaned and sanitized. The porous structure of wood enables it to absorb and retain bacteria, therefore bacteria generally colonize not only the surface but also the inside layers of wood. The shelves or boards used for aging make direct contact with finished products; hence they could be a potential source of pathogenic microorganisms in the finished products.”

The most interesting part of the FDA’s statement it that it does not consider this to be a new policy, but rather an enforcement of an existing policy. And worse yet, FDA has reiterated that it does not intend to change this policy.

In an email to industry professionals, Rob Ralyea, Senior Extension Associate in the Department of Food Science and the Pilot Plant Manager at Cornell University in New York, says: “According to the FDA this is merely proper enforcement of the policy that was already in place. While the FDA has had jurisdiction in all food plants, it deferred cheese inspections almost exclusively to the states. This has all obviously changed under FSMA.”

Ah, FSMA. For those of you not in the know, the Food Safety Modernization Act is the most sweeping reform of American food safety laws in generations. It was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011 and aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.

While most cheesemakers have, perhaps, begrudgingly accepted most of what has been coming down the FSMA pike, including the requirement of HACCP plans and increased federal regulations and inspections, no one expected this giant regulation behemoth to virtually put a stop to innovation in the American artisanal cheese movement.

Many of the most awarded and well-respected American artisan cheeses are currently aged on wooden boards. American Cheese Society triple Best in Show winner Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin is cured on wooden boards. Likewise for award-winners Cabot Clothbound in Vermont, current U.S. Champion cheese Marieke Feonegreek, and 2013 Best in Show Runner-Up Bleu Mont Bandaged Cheddar.

Wisconsin cheesemaker Chris Roelli says the FDA’s “clarified” stance on using wooden boards is a “potentially devastating development” for American cheesemakers. He and his family have spent the past eight years re-building Roelli Cheese into a next-generation American artisanal cheese factory. Just last year, he built what most would consider to be a state-of-the-art aging facility into the hillside behind his cheese plant. And Roelli, like hundreds of American artisanal cheesemaekrs, has developed his cheese recipes specifically to be aged on wooden boards.

“The very pillar that we built our niche business on is the ability to age our cheese on wood planks, an art that has been practiced in Europe for thousands of years,” Roelli says. Not allowing American cheesemakers to use this practice puts them “at a global disadvantage because the flavor produced by aging on wood can not be duplicated. This is a major game changer for the dairy industry in Wisconsin, and many other states.”

As if this weren’t all bad enough, the FDA has also “clarified” – I’m really beginning to dislike that word – that in accordance with FSMA, a cheesemaker importing cheese to the United States is subject to the same rules and inspection procedures as American cheesemakers.

Therefore, Cornell University’s Ralyea says, “It stands to reason that if an importer is using wood boards, the FDA would keep these cheeses from reaching our borders until the cheese maker is in compliance. The European Union authorizes and allows the use of wood boards. Further, the great majority of cheeses imported to this country are in fact aged on wooden boards and some are required to be aged on wood by their standard of identity (Comte, Beaufort and Reblochon, to name a few). Therefore, it will be interesting to see how these specific cheeses will be dealt with when it comes to importation into the United States.”

Ralyea continues: “While most everyone agrees that Listeria is a major concern to the dairy industry, it appears that some food safety agencies interpret the science to show that wood boards can be maintained in a sanitary fashion to allow for their use for cheese aging, while others (e.g., the US FDA) believe that a general ban of any wooden materials in food processing facilities is the better approach to assure food safety. At this point, it seems highly unlikely that any new research data or interpretations will change the FDA policies in place.”

In fact, many research papers do in fact conclude that wooden boards are safe. In 2013, the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research published a paper on the subject, concluding: “Considering the beneficial effects of wood boards on cheese ripening and rind formation, the use of wood boards does not seem to present any danger of contamination by pathogenic bacteria as long as a thorough cleaning procedure is followed.” You can read the whole report on pages 8-9 by clicking on this link.

Interesting side note: Health Canada does not currently have any regulations prohibiting aging and ripening cheese on wood, so apparently if we want to eat most American or European artisan cheeses, we’ll need to drive across the border to do so.

So what’s next? The American Cheese Society has mobilized its Regulatory & Academic Committee to learn more about this issue, and to ensure its members’ interests are represented. The ACS promises to keep us apprised of developments. In the meantime, if you are a cheesemaker, and your operation is inspected and cited for the use of wooden surfaces, please contact the ACS office (720-328-2788 or info@cheesesociety.org).

]]>http://www.uh1pilot.com/cheese-grommet-cheese-those-dastardly-cheese-artisans/feed/0http://www.uh1pilot.com/cheese-grommet-cheese-those-dastardly-cheese-artisans/The Liberty Amendments a must read.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/uh1pilot/~3/3UJ__yH3xYk/
http://www.uh1pilot.com/the-liberty-amendments-a-must-read/#commentsMon, 09 Jun 2014 16:39:17 +0000http://www.uh1pilot.com/?p=258Political books can add to the body of reason as a means of educating oneself in the art of politics. This is a necessary skill in raising young men. In the battlefields of tomorrow, Law, Elections, and Truth become the bullets to defend Liberty and Freedom. If we ever forget this then they will be more »